Peter Molyneux leaving Lionhead to work with indie studio

Peter Molyneux, the co-founder of Lionhead Studios, is leaving the pride to strike out on his own. The famous developer, whose Resume includes the Fable series and the PC hit Black & White, revealed earlier today that he’s going to work with an indie studio.

Molyneux helped start up Bullfrog Studios in 1987, where he put together classic titles like Dungeon Keeper and Populous. He left Bullfrog in 1997 to start up Lionhead Studios, where he created Black & White, a game about God’s pets misbehaving. Lionhead was acquired by Microsoft in 2006, which brought the Fable franchise to the console.

And now, another chapter in Molyneux’s long career comes to a close. “It is with mixed emotions that I made the decision to leave Microsoft and Lionhead Studios, the company that I co-founded in 1997, at the conclusion of development of Fable: The Journey,” he told Kotaku. “I remain extremely passionate and proud of the people, products and experiences that we created, from Black & White to Fable to our pioneering work with Milo and Kate for the Kinect platform. However, I felt the time was right to pursue a new independent venture.”

Microsoft responded with a statement wishing Molyneux the “best of luck in future endeavors,” and said he was “one of our most passionate and influential developers for the Xbox 360 platform.”

So what’s next for Molyneux? He’ll be going to work with 22 Cans, an indie studio that’s been assembled by Tim Rance, Lionhead’s former chief technical officer.

“Now for something really amazing, scary and brave, a new company called 22 Cans,” Molyneux tweeted.